citizen77
New member
Not in my experience. I also own a MOTU Traveller(MKI) that I've been using for years for location work. I just used it on a quick project last weekend. It has horrible pre's on it. It doesn't matter what I use for mics - even my most "warm" mics. It is outrageously sterile and unnatural sounding. But... I still use them often since it's easier to bring a 5lb box in a backpack rather than a 200lb rack. My arms can't handle the stress anymore. My age is catching up with me (and I'm still "young"). I degrees... even with its crappy pre's, I still get a good sound out of it. It's way less forgiving than the pre's on the UFX, but it makes me more diligent on mic placement. I can get lazy with mic placement with the Millennias and UFX in comparison.
I recorded an organ concert at the Basilica of St. Mary's in Minneapolis and Michael Barone of MPR also set up his mics for his radio show Pipe Dreams. He uses DPAs with custom pre's. He said he doesn't like Schoeps. At first I felt bad about my equipment cause it's Michael Barone, and then I got over myself and started using my gear to the best I can. After both CDs were finished, I was told mine was the best sounding recording done in the Basilica! I was using 4 channels of Millennias, 4 channels of the UFX, and the 2 channel John Hardy (and if I remember right, the 2 channel FRM RNP for surround - which I never used in the final mix - but I used only 4 CMC64s and a bunch of cheap no-name Chinese SDCs.). It's not that I'm a better engineer than Michael or that I have better gear (and he's probably been doing this longer than I've been alive), I just used what I had at the time to the best I could. He's probably got his system down and knows how to get a "good enough" sound for the radio (which is actually excellent). If I did it now, it would be all Millennias and Schoeps. Would be it better? Probably, those SDC were really bright.
I sometimes forget the main rule of recording: If you have a bright source, don't use bright mics - use the opposite. When recording jazz trumpet, my first choice is my modified Nady or MXL ribbon mics (I replaced the trannies with Lundahls). They sound AMAZING! Better than Royers when I tested them back to back. I was not expecting that at all. But ribbon mics are so basic in design, I'm not too surprised anymore. If a musician has a bright instrument or plays stridently, using a darker mic may balance that out.
That's the one included with Logic, isn't it? I felt it was OK, but it wasn't great on everything. I felt the reverb that came with Garageband was actually better... Sounds completely nuts. Maybe I wasn't using the Convolution Reverb to its best.
Actually, I really do like the combination of the UFX and MK2s. I still prefer the Millennias over the Hardy's for most classical projects. The Hardy's sound amazing though - especially jazz and of course rock (especially bass, guitar, all drums). I lent my gear to a bass playing friend for his solo album because he wanted to use the Millennias, but he went with the Hardy's instead. My guess is that the Hardy's and the MK2s would sound great with accoustic/folk/bluegrass music.
I shouldn't say I always use my Schoeps and Millennias on every classical gig. If a student needs a recording for grad school or audition CD, I may use more forgiving mics like Oktava's and run through the Millennias. Scheops pick up EVERYTHING - the good and the bad, all the nuances. With a musician who doesn't have their finesse developed yet, the Oktava's cover up the less desirable aspects of their playing. I'd rather have a little more noise in the recording and make the musician sound better, than a "clean" recording that sounds sloppy. The mic really does have more influence over the sound than the pre.
The point is that you are going to find a much more difference with different mics than pre's and hopefully get less bright recordings.
